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freshkatsu's review
4.0
A few weeks ago, Borders across Sydney had a massive 75-90% off clearance sales. Not expecting anything good, I went into them looking for anything that looked like it would last more than 10 pages before I trash it in the bin and still, somehow, ended up with just 4 books. One of them was Don DeLillo's Underworld, I got it because it was insanely cheap and thick at the same time. The other two were 19th century classics that I planned to use as birthday presents (I know, but hey, I'm sure they would be more appreciated than Target chocolate).
What Was Lost was the last one I picked out of a pile of sad looking $5 paperbacks lying on the ground. I was initially intrigued by its cover, which reminded me of Douglas Coupland's Shampoo Planet
So despite its tacky title font, I brought the book home.
And I was pleasantly surprised by WWL's sophistication. I wrote my architectural theory term paper on the danger of chained Shopping Center (or The Mall) homogenising consumptive experience and contributing to the lost of place-specific locality. Baudrillard once said that shopping centers have became the genius loci of the urban landscape, and that was only 20 years ago. I'm not sure how much O'Flynn knows about contemporary architecture, but she was spot on in the dissertation of that dreaded, air-conditioned experience of working in a mall. Marc Auge called it Non-place, Koolhaas called it Junkspace, both signifying a dissatisfaction of such retail architecture and how it is stripped of any possible symbolic meaning. There are some fairly profound ideas explored (or maybe I'm reading too much into it, I think I'm still stuck in the paper writing mode), and I enjoyed the way she toys with the concepts, provoking her audience without being too academic (I'm looking at you Koolhaas. I would like you more if you stop writing books that are longer than 800 pages).
That being said, What Was Lost is a light read. The opening is humourous and while the last two chapters more contemplative, the philosophy is very light hearted and introductory. Now, if only all the arch theory books on retail are this easy and short.
What Was Lost was the last one I picked out of a pile of sad looking $5 paperbacks lying on the ground. I was initially intrigued by its cover, which reminded me of Douglas Coupland's Shampoo Planet
So despite its tacky title font, I brought the book home.
And I was pleasantly surprised by WWL's sophistication. I wrote my architectural theory term paper on the danger of chained Shopping Center (or The Mall) homogenising consumptive experience and contributing to the lost of place-specific locality. Baudrillard once said that shopping centers have became the genius loci of the urban landscape, and that was only 20 years ago. I'm not sure how much O'Flynn knows about contemporary architecture, but she was spot on in the dissertation of that dreaded, air-conditioned experience of working in a mall. Marc Auge called it Non-place, Koolhaas called it Junkspace, both signifying a dissatisfaction of such retail architecture and how it is stripped of any possible symbolic meaning. There are some fairly profound ideas explored (or maybe I'm reading too much into it, I think I'm still stuck in the paper writing mode), and I enjoyed the way she toys with the concepts, provoking her audience without being too academic (I'm looking at you Koolhaas. I would like you more if you stop writing books that are longer than 800 pages).
That being said, What Was Lost is a light read. The opening is humourous and while the last two chapters more contemplative, the philosophy is very light hearted and introductory. Now, if only all the arch theory books on retail are this easy and short.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
3.0
creepy, un-cookie-cutter mystery. book blog post on these to come. end of vacation book recaps (so far). i think i need to track down a bookstore tomorrow as all i have left is one short book i brought, and julia child (my mom's), and something called The Early Life History of Fishes, which unfortunately is not a metaphor for anything.
crazycardigan's review against another edition
3.0
So far this reminds me a bit of "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." I just finished it last night, the ending was a "surprise" I guess, but it sort of fizzled toward the end for me. Parts of the book were so funny that I laughed out loud. It was really great for a first novel, I will be keeping my eye out for something new from her in the future.
curiousnoel's review
5.0
This may very well be the most characterization-packed book I’ve ever read. Every figure that appeared even briefly came heaped with charming quirks and poignant human details, glimpses into unspoken inner caves of the self. Many sections had me out-loud laughing, while others were like getting thumbed in the tenderest spot of my feels. I adored both. And the audiobook narrator did such a fantastic job! She sold each personality perfectly. I kind of want to listen to it all over again.
maggiemoore's review
4.0
A good book and a very quick read, but a bit on the melancholy side. Glad I read it on a nice sunny weekend! Would have been tough on a gloomy one...
sde's review against another edition
4.0
Catherine O'Flynn is an amazing writer, and I will definitely read more books by her. She made me see the simple and everyday - a mall, school room, corner store - seem like interesting and sometimes magical places. Yet I wish this story went in a completely different direction - but it's the author's story to tell, not mine.
The book starts in 1984 in an English suburb/small city and then moves to 20 years later. The main character in the 1984 section is an elementary school-aged girl named Kate Meaney. I LOVED Kate. She was a quirky, interesting girl who didn't really fit in with her classmates. She yearns to be a detective, and spends a lot of time in the local mall practicing her skills of observation and looking for crime. O'Flynn makes Kate seem both mature for her age and yet still a child. She is a complex, and not too cute, child character.
I did not enjoy the next section nearly as much, and not just because of its sadness. The author accurately depicted the malaise of 20 and 30-somethings stuck in a place in life that they are not quite sure how they arrived at. It was interesting, but felt completely different from the first part. The two sections intertwine, and the story wouldn't be what it was without the sections set in different decades, but, still, I wanted these to be two separate books. I wanted more time with my beloved Kate, rather than with the depressing, time-dragging time I spent with the adults in the 21st century.
And I wanted to learn more about Adrian, the young man who works in his parents store. Why did he like to do besides talk to a young girl? And I really wanted to know more about Teresa, Kate's defiant but smart classmate who has a very interesting story herself, although we only get to her a smidgeon of it.
I didn't like the ending, but I didn't think there was anything really WRONG with it. So, again, I have to remind myself that it's O'Flynn's story, not mine.
The book starts in 1984 in an English suburb/small city and then moves to 20 years later. The main character in the 1984 section is an elementary school-aged girl named Kate Meaney. I LOVED Kate. She was a quirky, interesting girl who didn't really fit in with her classmates. She yearns to be a detective, and spends a lot of time in the local mall practicing her skills of observation and looking for crime. O'Flynn makes Kate seem both mature for her age and yet still a child. She is a complex, and not too cute, child character.
I did not enjoy the next section nearly as much, and not just because of its sadness. The author accurately depicted the malaise of 20 and 30-somethings stuck in a place in life that they are not quite sure how they arrived at. It was interesting, but felt completely different from the first part. The two sections intertwine, and the story wouldn't be what it was without the sections set in different decades, but, still, I wanted these to be two separate books. I wanted more time with my beloved Kate, rather than with the depressing, time-dragging time I spent with the adults in the 21st century.
And I wanted to learn more about Adrian, the young man who works in his parents store. Why did he like to do besides talk to a young girl? And I really wanted to know more about Teresa, Kate's defiant but smart classmate who has a very interesting story herself, although we only get to her a smidgeon of it.
I didn't like the ending, but I didn't think there was anything really WRONG with it. So, again, I have to remind myself that it's O'Flynn's story, not mine.
stephh's review against another edition
1.0
This is one of my least favourite reads of the year so far. It was shortlisted for the costa book award, and so I thought it would be a good read, but instead I found it very slow considering it's such a short book.
We start with Kate Meaney, a 10-year-old wannabe detective, hunting out potential crimes in the local shopping mall. Switching to twenty years later, security guard Kurt and music store clerk Lisa find Kate's toy monkey in the back passages of the mall. They start to work out who the little girl that lost it might be, which uncovers some uncomfortable truths about their own pasts.
I just found this an incredible slow read. The first part of the book dragged out trying to show you Kate's days, and then the adult POVs did too. This had an almost literary fiction feel, along the lines of a Sally Rooney book, but the characters and relationships just weren't well written enough to make it a good book.
We start with Kate Meaney, a 10-year-old wannabe detective, hunting out potential crimes in the local shopping mall. Switching to twenty years later, security guard Kurt and music store clerk Lisa find Kate's toy monkey in the back passages of the mall. They start to work out who the little girl that lost it might be, which uncovers some uncomfortable truths about their own pasts.
I just found this an incredible slow read. The first part of the book dragged out trying to show you Kate's days, and then the adult POVs did too. This had an almost literary fiction feel, along the lines of a Sally Rooney book, but the characters and relationships just weren't well written enough to make it a good book.
suzanne289's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
hellomchu's review against another edition
3.0
Lives intertwined over time and space in a mall of all places. Sad but strangely hopeful.
tabandvelcro's review against another edition
4.0
A mysterious disappearance in a creepy mall? Sign me up!